Chapter 86: Lunch with Everyone isn’t so bad

Gym has ended. Professor Oresama acts like nothing happened, so I will act the same with the others, but I have to admit that after gym, my friends, except for Zayn and Hachiko for some reason, look exhausted. I wonder what their activities were.

Anyway, I am now in the canteen to eat my lunch. What lunch will I have today? Let’s see what Alden has to offer. I stand in line, but I realize that I don’t see the others (Kai is with me though). Where are they?

Oh, Bibi and Darkie are running to me from the direction of a table…filled with food? Now I see my friends with food already on their plates. My friends seem surprised to see me in line.

Theodore stood up and walked to my place in the line.

“Laveda, why are you in line? Didn’t the headmaster tell you that the food for the Experiment class will be already set up?”

…Headmaster is a jerk.

“I wasn’t informed.”

“Neither was I,” stated Kai with crossed arms. He looks pretty mad. Since we now know, Kai and I join the others at the table. By the way, Darkie and Bibi and in my arms resting…I hope. They always seem to fall still when I enter the Canteen. Is it an allergic reaction?

I sat next to Cecil, since the chair next to him was free. Cecil is smirking at the others for some reason…for some reason, I heard Roland mutter, “I’ll win next time.” What does he mean by that? It’s almost like he was challenging someone before. Cecil really does look smug.

OK, time to focus on the food in front of me. Oh, there are chicken sandwiches here. The bread is so tasty. It matches well with the spiciness of the fried chicken. Alden truly is the best when it comes to making sandwiches. I better thank him later.

“So Laveda, what did you do during gym class?” Cecil suddenly asked as I munched on the delicious sandwich. I swallowed what was in my mouth and stated, “Boss Battle.”

“Boss Battle?”

“…Professor Oresama used his power to train us in a very near death experience way.”

I can’t reveal about the Guardian thing, but I will reveal that Oresama was being a jerk to me and Kai. Zayn was also bullied, but Zayn managed well on his own and he also helped me out.

“…That sounds difficult.”

“What about your training?”

Cecil grew very silent staring off into the distance…really, what was his training? Was it that traumatizing?

“Pitfalls”

“Huh?”

“The teachers made me and three others predict where the pitfalls were made and if we got the location wrong…danger waited for us.”

“Danger?”

“The pitfalls were filled with traps like acid, spikes…curses…the curses were really bad.”

What were the curses? Actually, isn’t that type of training dangerous? Is the Academy trying to kill off the students here?

Harold suddenly chuckled saying, “You think you had a bad? Try dealing with the sky falling.”

Huh…what does he mean by that? This isn’t Chicken Little, you know.

“All of my training was in the sky. I don’t have a problem with flying, but if random rocks fell from the sky, then a problem arises. It wasn’t only rocks either. There were some blades raining down as well. I’m lucky to be alive.”

THAT IS REALLY DANGEROUS! Is the Academy really aiming to kill?

Roland groaned adding, “My training was pretty bad too. There was a tsunami of earth coming at me from all directions. I thought I was going to get buried alive.”

BURIED? Roland is good with controlling the earth element, but if a tsunami of earth came then it would be difficult. Did the teachers intend to bury him and the other earth users alive?

Hachiko began to chuckle saying, “I had fun with the training. There were so many large animals like a Badger Bear and Silver Fang Wolves. I got to ride on one of the wolves and play tag with the others.”

…I don’t think Hachiko is aware that large animals like a Badger Bear are hard to control for beginner animal users, especially when they are young. Playing tag? I think it was more like running for their lives. Look, even Big Brother is beginning to shiver. It must have been shocking for him not to be able to communicate with an animal. Actually, why did the teachers allow Hachiko to ride on one of the wolves to torment the other students?

Abigail suddenly sighed and stated, “My training was also difficult. They shoved me and the other ice users off a high platform and ordered ice to form ice that will make us move continuously. It was so scary when I slid nonstop and almost collided with other ice users too.”

That does sound difficult and oddly fun. It sounds like an ice slide was formed. I should make an ice slide in my spare time to enjoy.

Nate seems reluctant to talk, but I really am curious about what training he went through.

“Nate, what was your training?”

Nate visibly flinched, but instead of answering me, he began to shovel food into his mouth like he was in an eating competition. Eating that fast is pretty dangerous. Is he that reluctant to answer me? He might actually be sick too because of the training. His face is so red.

It is best not to urge Nate to talk.

I already know what Zayn did in gym…actually…

“Zayn, what did you do during gym?”

Zayn smiled as he stated, “The Obstacle course. The plant life was very lively and of course I also joined with…”

“OK, obstacle course, glad you enjoyed it!”

I had to interrupt him or he might reveal that he and I were going to meet with Professor Oresama after school. It is supposed to be a secret.

I then looked at Eleanor and Montgomery wondering what activity they did. They are the only light users in the school as far as I know, so maybe their training wasn’t as hellish.

Eleanor sighed saying, “Big Brother and I were told to run fifty laps. We weren’t allowed to walk or take breaks.” Montgomery nodded in agreement before gulping down a glass of water.

That’s pretty bad. There wasn’t anything magical about running laps, but running fifty laps with no breaks and no walking is like running in a desert in the raging sun.

I handed them a jug of water urging them to drink more. They drank the water like they hadn’t drunk for days. I feel so sorry for them.

“Laveda?” I suddenly heard Sensei say, “Do you want to know what Shuya and I did to the students with the water talent?” I nodded. I was definitely curious. How could water be exhausting?

“I had the students walk on water.”

“That sounds easy.”

“It is…if Shuya didn’t add monster waves in the water!”

“PROFESSOR TOMAYO DID THAT?”

Sensei nodded glaring at Shuya, but Shuya only chuckled saying, “Come on Ryu, Oresama wanted the waves to be added in.”

“He didn’t say to make the waves into monster shapes. Some of the students nearly drowned.”

“It was just for fun.”

“How are we friends?”

“You can’t live without me.”

“Disgusting.”

Shuya was laughing and I have to admit that I was trying my best not to giggle at their exchange, but I do feel sorry for the students of the water talent. Sensei is kind, but Shuya is pretty much like an ogre.

I continued to eat after our discussion about our training sessions, but then I noticed a fork of clam spaghetti in front of me.

“You should try this, Laveda,” Cecil urged (he was holding the fork). I could just get my own serving, but Cecil is so nice to offer this to me, so…

“Thank you.”

I engulfed the spaghetti in my mouth. What is this? SO DELICIOUS! The sauce has the right amount of spiciness and sweetness. The meat of the clam is so tender that it is practically melting in my mouth. The spaghetti really is al dente. Alden is such a wonderful cook. He deserves five stars.

“I see you like the food.”

I nodded vigorously and then reached out to the plate of spaghetti to get myself a serving, but a new treat was suddenly held before me: a meat ball with a barbeque scent.

“Have a taste of this too,” urged Roland. I didn’t refuse such a delicious offer. Into my mouth it went. This is good too. I’ll get a serving of this too.

I reached toward the meatballs, but then more treats were presented to me…from everyone. The food is good, but I wonder why everyone decided to feed me and they seem to be competing with each other. I ate the treats offered, but I am a little worried why there was a competition of feeding me. I know my weight is normal, so they can’t be determined to feed me because I am too skinny. I am slightly worried.

“Guys, I am already full.”

I told them that to stop the food offerings. If this continued I might get fat.

Anyway, they continued to eat, while I began to leave the table to deliver my plate. It is only polite to bring your plate to the sink or to a disposal area. As I walked, I suddenly realized something: in gym, weren’t we supposed to have an activity where EVERYONE got together? Did Professor Oresama forget or maybe he changed his mind? I’ll ask him after school when I meet him.

I placed my plate at the dish disposal area, but I was suddenly plucked from the ground and pulled into a swinging door…KIDNAPPED! Oh, it is just Alden, but why did he pull me back here.

“Laveda, have you been well?”

I nodded and bowed to him saying my thanks for breakfast and for lunch.

“Your food was very delicious.”

“I’m glad to hear,” stated Alden with a smile. He then knelt to my height and asked, “Do you want to learn the recipes?”

“You’ll teach me?”

“Of course. I did teach you how to bake the bread I made, so I think it is only fair that I teach you how to make savory dishes as well.”

I thanked him repeatedly, pulling him into a hug. Alden is so nice…I am still wondering why Alden had to tell me this secretly though.

Alden suddenly lifted me up. That really shocked me. He held me at eye level and asked, “How about a lesson after school?”

After school…that’s a really bad time.

“Sorry, but I have an appointment with someone else after school today.”

I’m glad Alden is so nice. I can hardly wait to learn his recipes. Hold on, now that I think about it, I was planning to go shopping for ingredients after school today. Oh well, I’ll just shop tomorrow or ask Frederick to do it for me if it isn’t too much trouble.

“Alden, can you put me down now?” I asked sweetly. He needs to put me down, so I can go to the others, but Alden only smiled and asked, “Do you need to go somewhere?”

“Yes, I need to go back to my friends.”

“Your friends…do you mean your stuffed animals?”

“If you mean Bibi and Darkie then I do need to return to them too, but my friends are the ones in the experimental class.”

“…I see then you better return to them.”

Alden finally placed me down, but is it just me or did he look a little angry? I better not think about it. There is no reason for Alden to be angry. He is always kind, ever since I first met him.

I ran out the swinging door and returned to the others. Ugh, don’t hug me so much Abigail. Her hugs are sometimes pretty deadly. The others were also fussing at me asking where I was. I was honest and told them that I was speaking with Alden. Oh boy, Theodore looks angry again. He really hates Alden.

Hold on…WHY ARE BIBI AND DARKIE PLAYING DEAD AGAIN? Please wake up! I managed to wake them up, but they looked pretty mad. Please don’t get scary you two, not with people around. I better figure out why they play dead like this in the canteen next time. This can’t continue.

Lunch is almost finished, so we will be returning to class soon…I wonder if I have to go through that crazy rabbit hole again.